Using This Resource

This resource contains references to Open Game Content that appeared originally in Hyperconscious: Explorations in Psionics, by Bruce. R. Cordell. Hyperconscious is not required to enjoy this resource, but your play experience may be enhanced by using these two books together. Except for a single feat, this resource does not reprint material from Hyperconscious. Rather, the HC symbol is used to denote if a particular element originated there, and sidebars throughout the book provide alternatives if you are not using Hyperconscious.

If you are using the Mindscapes psionic combat system, you will need to know the following information:

Every monster (and NPC) presented in this book has its mindscape mode check bonus listed with its resting mode in its statistics block. As normal for psionic monsters, every psionic monster in this book uses the good mode check progression, including the templated monsters. However, the dire nightmare prestige class (for the Nameless Fear) uses the average mode check progression.

A few monsters have special abilities based on the Mindscapes system: if you are not using this system, alternate versions have been provided in the individual ability descriptions.

Many monsters (particularly those of the Nameless Fear) have the dreamborn subtype, which appears in Hyperconscious and belongs to creatures comprised, at least partially, of the stuff of dreams. If you do not have access to Hyperconscious, treat a creature with the dreamborn subtype as having a 20% miss chance against all attacks (physical or not), due to the creature’s hazy, out-of-focus appearance. This isn’t an incorporeal miss chance or concealment, so ghost touch weapons or concealment reducing effects do not ignore this miss chance, but other effects that ignore miss chances altogether (such as an augmented the arrow knows the way power or any area-effect spell or power) can affect a dreamborn creature normally.

The psionic classes introduced in this book with unique power lists (the marksman, society mind, and sighted seeker) have powers from Hyperconscious presented on their power lists. If you are not using Hyperconscious, these powers simply are not available. Powers from Hyperconscious deliberately make up a very small amount of each new class’ power lists. None of these powers make use of the campaign changing elements of Hyperconscious, however, so if you have access to the book and are not using it for that reason, these powers may remain available at the GM’s option.

Discipline vs. Devotion

Since the release of the current edition of psionics, new players are often confused with the term “discipline.” This is because it actually refers to two very different things at the same time – one refers to the “school” of a psionics power (psychometabolism, metacreativity, and so on), and the other to one of the six types of psions and their special lists of powers (egoist, shaper, and so forth).

In order to reduce confusion, this resource uses the term “discipline” only in the first case – the term “devotion” is introduced to represent the psion subtype and unique list. An example of use would be “Many powers in the shaper devotion list come from the metacreativity discipline.”

This does not carry with it any mechanical change. It affects only names, and is for the sake of clarity. The only retroactive change is renaming the first-level psion class feature to “devotion”.

Rules Replacements

By and large, this resource does not replace any rules in your games, it merely provides new ones. However, it does present an alternate to the often-confusing shapechanging rules. More details on this alternate system, plus the exact list of material it replaces from the SRD, may be found in in the description of the (shapechanging) subdiscipline. If you enjoy this version of shapechanging, it is designed to be relatively straightforward to port to the existing d20 magic system as well.

An Island of Dreams…

Until recently, Rajrin never really existed in any conventional sense of the term. In fact, even describing the island’s history is difﬁcult, due to circumstances surrounding its disappearance and reappearance. The connection between dreams and psionics is evident enough: anyone can reshape their dreams with will alone, given enough training, and this is exactly what psionic characters do in the waking world. What isn’t apparent is that this connection extends the other way as well: dreams that exist independently of dreamers but nonetheless inﬂuence the real. Events that occur to these dream-natives seem as real to them as the material world does to its inhabitants. Travelers often discover that many cultures developing independently have similar stories between them, with only minor elements changing from one to the next. Chances are very good that these stories actually did happen – but in the region of dreams, and half-remembered by ancient storytellers upon waking. It isn’t that alien a concept, really: if one accepts that the region of dreams has its own inhabitants as well as all the nightly dreaming visitors from assorted planes – a fact supported by experienced nomads, who dream travel frequently enough – then why not imagine an entire island of such inhabitants, glimpsed by many in their dreams? This island is Rajrin. Its history is strangely mutable and seems contradictory depending on who you speak to, although given the unstable perception of time while dreaming, this is to be expected.

Lost…
It seems that some time in the past, the pocket of the region of dreams that held Rajrin was cast adrift for
unknown reasons. A few of its inhabitants survived and escaped to other locations more like their familiar reality
than the raw dreamstuff they encountered – places like the material plane, although like many things that make the
journey from dream to reality the details of the dream were forgotten. The island itself lay lost, adrift in dreams, for an indeterminate amount of time – for the material plane residents, it would have been an eternity, although the mutable nature of dreams means that some on Rajrin itself may have perceived no time as passing at all.

…and found…
And yet, here it is, quite real and quite here, on the material plane. Its residents are understandably confused,
much like suddenly waking from a lifelong dream, and give conﬂicting stories as to exactly what has gone on.
Taking into account the journals of several early explorers, the island was yanked out of the region of dreams by
something on the material plane. Some islanders insist that the island is different somehow from what they remember,
as if bits of it were left behind: the most dramatic of such tales is a hermit who insists his coastal home was
in the middle of a desert full of strange beings that make the dromites seem more human in comparison. And not one resident remembers the spine-chilling sense of dread that many feel, intensifying towards the central mountain range.

How did it arrive? What has changed? Can anything be done?

Such details are uncertain. What is certain is that an island full of psionic power has suddenly appeared in
the world, and if there’s one thing that adventurers as a demographic crave, it’s power.

They ﬂock to regions near the island, pressing towards this new horizon of untapped potential…

Godminds and Psionic Nodes

Originally found in Hyperconscious: Explorations in Psionics by Bruce R. Cordell, a godmind is a being of
extreme power, on par with the power of a deity. In fact, many less informed believe the two to be the same; they
believe a godmind is actually just another god. Yet there are differences that separate the two types of entities.

In some situations, a godmind was once a mortal; a mortal with an overwhelming innate talent for psionics or
a mortal who was able to acquire the same level of power over their life, but a mortal nonetheless. The individuals
who took the path to elevate their power beyond normal limits eventually became godminds if they were not
destroyed in the process. However, not all godminds were originally mortals. Some are beings alien in nature
but vast in power, and they have the level of power to be termed godminds.

A pantheon of known godminds is detailed. Due to the incredibly vast nature of the universe, it is not only possible, but also quite likely that more godminds exist or are developing in power.Although godminds are equal in scope to typical deities in power, they do not carry the same divine beneﬁts that worshippers of typical deities receive. A cleric or other spellcaster that gains spellcasting ability from a speciﬁc deity does not gain such a beneﬁt from worshipping a godmind. Similarly, clerics, paladins, and other classes with the ability to turn or rebuke undead do not gain that ability from worshipping a godmind. While a godmind is immense in scope and power, they do not behave or exist
in the same fashion as a standard deity and, as such, are unable to grant these class features.

Those with the ability to manifest powers gain special abilities from their godminds if they choose to embark
upon the path of devotion. Through character options, it is possible to gain access to psionic nodes and other special
abilities, but the individual needs to have the psionic subtype, typically gained by having a power point reserve,
in order to gain any special beneﬁts from following the tenets of a godmind.

Because of the need for a follower to have a power point reserve to receive beneﬁts from the godmind, if the
follower ever drops to 0 power points, they lose access to any special abilities granted from following the doctrine of
a godmind, such as psionic nodes or class features.

Additionally, many godminds have speciﬁc doctrines that are expected of their adherents to follow. These doctrines
are outlined in the description of each godmind. Those who follow a godmind and purposely commit an act that is against the doctrine of their godmind typically lose access to any abilities granted by their godmind. This includes losing access to psionic nodes and any godmind-granted class features. If a follower of a godmind loses their granted abilities, they may seek to make amends through means such as atonement.

Godminds and Gods

In a typical campaign, there is usually at least one entity of such vast supremacy as to be considered of god-like
power. There may be multiple such entities, such as a pantheon of deities, or a singular entity. These supreme
beings may be active in the lives of mortals and shaping the world, or they may be more passive, letting the mortals
live their lives without divine intervention.

Into this equation is inserted the concept of godminds with the power typical of deities, given divine ranks and
abilities as such. The exact dynamics of the relationships that the godminds and other entities maintain is up to the
discretion of the game master. Perhaps only godminds exist, the other deities never having existed or some
string of events removing them from the world. Perhaps the standard pantheon of divine beings and the pantheon
of godminds co-exist, controlling different spheres of inﬂuence, or perhaps there is an active conﬂict between
the different factions of heavenly beings. The choice is yours to incorporate as you see ﬁt.

The godminds presented later in this book are detailed along with their philosophy and the path they took to gain
the power to become a godmind. Sample organizations are also given that venerate certain godminds, giving an easy base of believers to use to incorporate these godminds into an existing campaign. Or perhaps the godminds are newly-come to their powers and are still seeking out those to grant them their divine power.

The possibilities of incorporating these beings are only as limited as your imagination.

Psionics and Divinity

As with many other concepts in this game, there are bound to be players who do not embrace the concept of psionic-
based deities (in whatever name) or psionic characters who gain their ability through divine entities.

That’s ok! However, there is a signiﬁcant amount of content contained in this book that deals with psionic and
divine entities interacting (both deity-level and mortal-level). It is understood that these concepts are not for
everyone, but they are included for those who do enjoy this concept and want to continue exploring the possibilities.

If you are one who does not enjoy or subscribe to these concepts, it is advised to avoid the yuda of thought and puriﬁed mind prestige classes, and the keian and mentats, as these deal directly with this concept.

However, it is recommended to at least consider these different choices. If viewed in the proper manner, psionics
and divinity can not only co-exist peacefully, but actually cooperate without feeling uncomfortable.

In the end, the choice is yours to use this material or to exclude it, as it is with the rest of the material presented.

A World Without the Divine

Outlined below are recommendations on how to create a truly psionics-only campaign. With the removal of the
divine classes such as the cleric, druid, and paladin, the problem of lack of healing can be a major concern for
everyone involved. Here are proposed solutions to that problem.

What would your game be like without the divine classes? How would your characters endure without a healing cleric or a druid to summon forth animals to aid in combat? Would you even be able to survive?

You might be surprised at how easy it is to create a game without using any of the divine classes, especially in games that incorporate the society mind class presented in Untapped Potential: New Horizons in Psionics. Even that, however, is not strictly necessary.

Through the use of powers such as vigor, empathic transfer, and body adjustment, you can have a dedicated healing character as early as 3rd level with an egoist. Prior to that, potions of cure light wounds are able to do the job of a cleric and druid in terms of healing.

An egoist with the right power selection can easily serve as the party’s healer and also offer offensive capabilities
when his curative powers are not in demand. A society mind can share healing effects across his worldthought
network to ensure everyone receives the care they need to survive in the world.

If you choose to play in this type of scenario, your typical party roles might be ﬁlled with the following: a
ﬁghter-type (perhaps a soulknife or psychic warrior), a rogue-type, a wilder or psion, and an egoist or society mind. With this mix of classes, your party should be able to handle a wide variety of possibilities and may not even notice the lack of a divine casting class.

Raising the dead would be one area that might pose a problem in a game without divine casting. The egoist has the power to bring a fallen ally back to life if he reaches the individual in time,, or a high level manifester using bend reality or reality revision, but in any other situation, the deceased would have permanently passed on to the afterlife, making death a very permanent situation. This may be what you’re looking for in your game.

Perhaps you don’t believe that death, even in a game, should be taken lightly and should be a severe penalty or loss. By removing the classes that gain the ability to raise the dead, you have quickly achieved that goal. Death is no longer a situation where you simply save the corpse until you have the thousands of gold necessary to pay a cleric. Loss of life becomes a very dangerous penalty, one that the players will come to respect even more than before.

If you do not want to lose the ability to resurrect fallen allies, it can be introduced as an ability of high-ranking
clergy to all or speciﬁc godminds. These clergy may require a speciﬁc boon in exchange for their aid or
they may only perform the service for other members of their church. Certain deities, such as those of nature, might
only have the ability to cast reincarnate, bringing back the target in a different body. The choice, as with the rest of
the material presented within these pages, is up to you!

Healing Without Divine Magic

In a world without the touch of the divine, healing magic is limited in availability. The touch of the divine to
staunch blood ﬂow, mend wounds, and return life to the deceased is non-existent, which might make your game
harsher than you intend.

With such a major aspect of the world missing, it is likely that advances in healing would take place in that vacuum.
An herbalist or apothecary might learn to make unguents, potions, poultices, and other concoctions to mend the
wounded and heal the sick. Treat these creations as potions of the appropriate cure spells, but maybe a given character
can only gain the beneﬁt from a certain quantity of herbal remedies in any given time. This allows you to keep
healing available to the players, but not make it a trivial concern.